The Sun. — London, England, 1818-05-22 00:00:00

any accounts, provided a sufficient caw Aee're made out. But with respect ti. London, the orijnal intention of calling for ni• ncy had, lie h lie% ed, ;wen abAndoned ; the right of the linose wits cfoliintql to the necessity of the - ca , e, as it did riot sit, like the-Court of ('hancery, to call for accounts, un less,Oont;cre;:t nislaore of :ibuse were made out. Her con ci,d(4!)-tith remitik which was not distinctly heard, le spect Itearimr, of counsel, as made lei. the Right tio nii,ir e the Speaker, at the commencement of the argu- The SPEAti.F.lt'apnrehended he had not been heard or un der,toml ht the I lon. Gentleman in the few words he •11:id off. lid ; he sh,:uld therefore repeat them. The motion was f ,, r elect Committ,e to consider the Petition. The Poi tion,rs pr.,teil to be heard hy Counsel : and an Hon. Meniher had said hr thought it hest to refer the Petition to a Cora thi:tee, as bring more convenient. What he had said was, that t conceived tHit to he I ‘reeisely the, place in which the t',e PetittolleV , Could 11,11. be CtillIp!)1 , 1 with, as it wo,trt COW,SCI in a Com:unit e against the Orders of, the flouqe. He did • not mean that there was any ohjee th.t to the motion; it, paint of form, as it was for the appoint ment of a Committee to consider the Petition. Now such a Committee won'd he competent to examine legal men, that they might have the benefit of their information ; hut they stylist CX , lmine them as witnesses, and not as Counsel. Mr. WYNNE explained. Some farther conversation ensued between Messrs. N. Cal vert. Calcraft, S. Thornton, L.), .Britnd, and Sir J. Graham. The result was, a mutual understanding to put an end to the business altogether.. instead of coming to a divi sion. Sterjeant Onslow thou withdrew his motion for the previous question ; Sir.%V. Curtis withdrew his motion fur the appoint., eat of a Committee on fhe Petition; lie then moved that the Bill before the House (for a grant of 3 , 1,0001. to finish the New Prison)- be read a second time this day six months ; and Mr. H. Sumner moved the discharge of the Order for the production of the Accounts of the Corporation, all of which were agreed to. The general understanding seemed to he, that if the City declined to press fur more moon y from the public, the House had no right to make them product their accounts. REFORM IN PARLIAMENT. —•-• Sir F. BUR6E TT pres,utted twenty-three Petitions from various parts or Thc ranyir.4 f..r v u...foEi n in Par- Lament, which were read, and ordered to lie on the table. Sit U TKUETT then are notice, that on a certain day (the date of which could not he heard) he should bring for ward a motion on the subject•of Reform in Parliament. A*.Sl. - .SsE:) TAXES. Lord LASCELLV.S made some remark on the hardships in the manner of levying the House Tax, especially in those in stances in which sh.,pa were attached to the houses, and on t he ass.-ssments which were oft( n imposed at random on per sons who were at a great distance from where the Commis siNers sat, and were thus subjected to serious inconvenience. Ile ',marked also, that .he children of shopkeepers had been charge , : as servants, hecanse they had been sent oat with lar . eels, fie north for a Select Committee, to consider the ax on Shops and Windows.—The Committee was appointed. USURIOUS BILLS. Sir S,TIONIELLY,after a very few words on the import ance of the stibject, tibtained leave to bring in a Bill to afford relief to 4,we fide holders of negocialile securities, without -notice that they were given for usarious.clms‘deralions. RAPE SEED. I/Ird LASCELLES wished to ask an Hon. Gentleman be low him, what Government intended to do with respect to tht' inip , rtati!.r of Rape Seel, under the Consolidation Act ? Mr: ROTIINNON was understood to say, that it was intend- ed the diminution of the duty should not take place till those engaged in this article should have had full time to carry into effect the tngagt omits in which they had embarked their capital. It was probable that the duty would not be made to take effect till the sth of July, 1820 Sir S. ROMILLY H-ought up his Bill, which was read a first and sec.)nd.tine. LETTER OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE. Mr. RFNNET said, lie rose to bring antler the consideration of the tiouse.the Petitions of cer tain persons which he had presented at the early part of the Session, and he blamed himself for not having taken this step till the present period. — But . the delay had been caused paitly from ..his desire to make himself acquainted with the truth of the cases. Ile had set on foot a minute in ( xi r y into the allegations in the petitions,'•-antl be bad found them fully made out: These petitions hail ari.en out Of acts Catio by that celebrated Circular Letter which conll never he forgotten ; but it was not his intention to trouble the 'Flouse wilt any opinion Hs to the legality of that Letter, about which so Much had already been said.— Ile knew that at several Quarter Ses,ions it had been tre;ited- %vitt' merited contempt, at one of wh, h t: e Chairman publicly said, Don't let us he tr,nhied with such trash as this." Inmost parts, it was tine that not many steps had been taken in consequence .of 'it ; but there were some men wh o d i d n o t c-ire what the law was : they were only anxious it should be what the Ministers wished Such might be brought into action, as infe rior fntnials or reptiles were drawn out of their kolas by a Sito,ver of. rain. The facts in the Pe tit ons let - pitted no comments, as every than must know that such practices were inconsistent with the liberty of the subject. The Hon. Gentleman then repeated the statements in the Petitions of the persons named Mellor and Pilling, of War rington, who were arrested in Feb 1817, for sell ing a copy of one of the blasphemoos parodies, when their houses were searched, and no more copies being found, a variety of other books, on history, &c. &c. were taken away. They were committed to the [louse of Correction by two Magistrates, were sent off in irons, and were as sociated with felons and criminals of Lvery de scription. They were thus punished before trial by order of two Magistrates, and he would say that even the Court of King's Bench had not'the power to subject men to the punishment which they had suffered. The blame, therefore, was on these two Magistrates, who had wantonly, ille gally, and cruelly committed them. Ii those per sons had been brought to trial, not withstanding the persecuting spirit of the Government, they might have been acquitted by three Lancashire Juries, as Mr. Hone had been by three London Juries. At length their trial was moved for at the Quarter Sessions, but by a writ. of certiorari they were removed to the Court of King's Bench. He thought it fair to say, that he believed there were several exaggerations in the statements of the persons whose case he now brought be fore the House, and even that their Petitions alleged several facts which were untrue. But did that alter the illegality of the procczdings by which persons held to bail were associated with common felons ? Every thing that was superadded to safe custody in such cases was wanton am! barbarous crtielty. The other in dividual to - whose case he wished to call the attention of the house was a person named Swindells. He held in his hand an affidavit by -this person. It stated, that while he was in bed with his wife, who was eight months gone with child, on the 10th of March, 1817, about twelve o'clock at night, constables visited his house, and search his trunks and repositories for seditious publications. The consequence of the ill treat ment and alarm which his family thus received was the premature labour of his wife, who died with her infant on the 2Gth of April. Afterwards he was discharged without trial, after having been smile' tune imprisarred:-• Swin4e4ls- had -been a seaman in his Majesty's service for eleven years, aod served in the squadron which blockaded Brest. Such were tt►e cases which Le hail to submit to the House. He would ask . whether !lie Horse would consent to allow . such things to pass over without inquiry ? He moved' that a Com mittee be appointed to inquire into the truth of the allegations in the Petitions of Melia, a nd Swindells. M. DAVENPORT said he thou/tilt it his duty to conm!!nicate to the House the contents of a let ter which he had received Os was understood) from a most respectable Magistrate of Chester, relative to the case of Swindells. The let , er stated that Swindells had not been `treated with any se verity when his boustt was searched—that the search was made on - the 10th of March, at the time whet; the most dreadful alarm was excited in the town of Macclesfield by a thousand of the Manchester rioters having entered it, and it was suspected that some of the delegates were con cealed in Swindell's house—that it was n ottroe that Swindell's wife had died of a premature la bour; but on the contrary, that there was the af fidavit of the medical person who attended her that she died of a consumption, under Which sh,: had long suffered, previous to the 10th of M arch— that Swindells was not arrested on the 10th March, but was only at that time warned of the danger of selling or circulating bfasphemous 'and seditious libels, such as those which had been fount) in his house—that afterwards, notwith standing repeated warnings, he persevered in sell ing such libels, in consequence of which lie was finally tried and imprisoned. The Hob. Member himself tcsiified that Mr. NV omi and the other Nia, gistrates who searched Swindell's house were men of benevolent dispositions and of the highest respectability. Mr. BLACKBURN read to the House two letters from Magistrates of Lancashire, - stating that no cruelty had been n'titted against Mellor and Pilling, and contradictiag the facts stated in their petition. The ATTORNRY-GENFRL said that the com plaint of the persons whose case 'had now been again brought before the Home was, that the law had been turned against them into an instrument of. oppression. This he positively deoied. With respect to what had been said as to the discharg ing those persons frotn . their recognitatices, that half been done by him, and he was ready to justify it. He filed no ex-officio information against those persons. To the enemies of ex-officio informatioos :he appealed as to his conduct in this respect. — The course which he pui - Sued was to send down indictments against the personsin question. Aird here he would appeal to those who were enemies to giving Magistrates the power of committal in such cases, whether he would not have been justified in preventing those perions from being at large without bail, after iriclictritents found. Atterwards, being desirous `that the cases should be tried before the Judges of the land,• he removed them ' . by Writs of certiorari into the Court of King's Bench.- 'After he had done this he utight lia've kept these men in custody, but that he did not do. He did no more than take their recognizances for their appear ance. He was astonished to hear it said; that those persons ought not before conviction to have been committed to a House of Correction. There were two several statutes which atithorizetrMa gistrates to commit suet) - - Houses of Correction before trial, and while only charged with such offences. The law upon this subject was clear and plain. But the Hon, Gentleman said, those persons were committed to hard labour. By the statute 22 Geo. 111. c. 64. persons com mitted under such circumstances might he ordered to labour--not to hard labour—hot tolabour, and when discharged, they were entitled to half the produce of their labour. A doubt had at nee time arisen whether persons committed for trial were - liable to labour, but it was now perfectly clear that the Statute of Chas. 11. as exieuded by 22 Geo. 111. applied to such prisoners, and that they might be set to labour. But it was said that the Petitioners were subject ed to hard labour. It was not hard labour.— The only labour was their being obliged to pick two pounds of cotton a day. As to the case of Swindells, it was not true that be was ar rested by any Magistrate. An ex officio informa tion was filed against him in consequence of his repeated offences in circulating seditious and blas phemous publications. He was arrested on an attachment, for his having refused to appear to the subpoena. He was told that the attachm en t was not to hold him to hail, but merely to enter an appearance. If he had appeared be would have been immediately discharged. He refused to ap .pear, and for this contempt of Court he was ne cessarily imprisoned. What was then done to him? Instead of being allowed to remain in gaol, where he might have been kept to this day, a notice was sent to him, that the moment he sent an attorney to enter an appearance for hint he would be dis charged; and if he could not provide an attorney for himself, be was allowed to apply to the soli citor of the Treasury, and to have a copy of the information gratis.—(Hear, hear, hear !) At the same time, he was told that he might either do this or appear and plead. He did apa pear and plead. Thus,instead of being treated with rigour, all the ordinary forms of the law bad been relaxed towards him. As to the circumstances of Swind - ell's house being searched, he begged the House to recollect that it took place on the 10th of March. On that night about 1000 of the per sons who had marched from Manchester entered : Macclesfield, and information was brought that serve of the pet-sons called Delegates were - con cealed in Swindell's house. It was in consequence of this that his house was searched. It was true . that some . of his papers were seized, and he did not mean to justify this. He admitted, that in .point of law, the Magistrates were wrong . in seizing the papers. But as to the effect produced on bit wife by the circumstance of his house be ing searched, the statement of Swindells was com pletely contradicted by affidavits. His wife died of a consumption, and after the 10th of March continued daily to work at the manufactory where she had been employed, and never was heard to make any complaint of hav ing been ill treated, or having suffered in her health from the alarm which site received. Swindells stated, too, that hzi h ad been refused medical assistance to his wife . durhig he'r•Tait ill ness. There was the affidavit of the Medical Gen tleman who bad - attended her, which completely contradicted this. That Gentleman continued to attend her till he was told by Swindells himself that he need not come again, as his wife had been admitted into the Dispensary. Another.of the al legations was, that Swindells had been allowed nothing but bread and water. This was a down right falsehood. There were affidavits which Droved that he had lived - while in the prison on the Debtors' side, and had daily tea and coffee, and meat and butter. And yet it was upon these cases, thus contradicted, that the present motion %vas founded. Under such circumstances, he had no doubt that the motio❑ would be rejected, as it deserved. Sir S. raosHeLY said, he thought this one of the most important questions which could come before the House, involving, the preservation of he Liberty of the Press and the Liberty of the Subject. 1 - 1 is Honourable and Learned niend (the Solicitor-General) seemed to think there was a charge personal against himself, which in fact was not the case. There was no part of his Honourable and Learned Friend's • conduct •itt the case in question to which he objected, except that of his having r , tnoved and protracted the prosecution by certiorari. In cases of misdemea nant- it is always a hat dship not to allow the pri soner to plead immediately. As to the main ques tion, the loading men with irons, charged only with -the publication of a political libel, was so monstrous, that a few years ago it would not have been believed It was said indeed that the pub lication - was a bfasphemous libel : that it - was a reprehensible and improper publication he admit ted, hilt' it was an - abuse of words to call it a blasphemous libel : the most strained description •wilriCh 'es - told-with correctness be given of it WIA 3 'hat it was a-libel.against the Established Church. Knowing the liberal .4.pinions wit,ich iris Hon. and Learned Ft fend used io entertain in the earlicr part of h-is life as to the liberty of the sni,j-ct, he 'thought he would have regarded the circumstances of this ease with:hortor. The House most recol lect that the publication in qtle,tion ryas not proved to be a libel . when the publishers were carried in an -pet) cart and in letters to the prison, where they were kept in irons. _ _ _ Mr. BLACKBURN here iose, , aod referred to bii letter, whiiA, stated that they were not kept in fetters in the workhouse, but were kept near a good fire, secured only by a small chain to their legs. Sir S. ROMILLY .he did _not mean that they were kept in fetters-in. the workhouse. But according to thellon. Gentleman himself,. they were kept in the workhouse in Preston-chained.- 7 - As to the seizing of papers, his . Honourable and Learned _Friend admitted that it was illegal ; but was it enough that such an act should be passed over with such an observation ? This_Nas the consequence of the indiscreet zeal excited by Lord Sidmouth's Circular Letter. What had happened in Swindell's case shoived how little the persons whO exercised this illegal limier were to be trusted—persons Who had seized Rollin's Ancient History, Law's Serious Call to Devout PersOus', the Evangelical Magazine, and such pious works, because they were foub* , beside. the . Liverpool Mercury and some numbers of Cobbet's Register. This was, he supposed, act_ iitg on the maxim nostitur a sociis. Such were the itiOnstrous violations of the law which had been committed in this case. On such a question as that before the 'louse, he could hardly believe that any, , corisiderable number of Members could be found to vote against the motion. Mr. B. llATnutisr said, the question was,,wthether the cases before the House were ,sufficient to in duce the House to appoint a Committee to in quire into them. There was a complaint made' (by tl.e Hon. Gent. who made the nuttion) against the Magistrates for committing the Petitioners be fore trial; but this had been completely answered by his, Hon. and Learned Friend, who proved that such a committal was perfectly legal. It re mained, therefore, to consider whether there had been any unjustifiable severity. As to this, it ape reared, that W . st-ead_ _of. being committed to the common county gaol, where they would have un dergone greater privations, they %vereonly'seirt to the workhouse. It appealed too, that the alle gations of the Petitioners, as to their being com pelled to hard labour, was an exaggeration.— They were certainly made to wink, but the la bour was by no means hard. As to the Case of Swindells, the *Magistrates had not visited his house for the purpose of searching for papers All the pointS of the case being already before the House, it was unnecessary to refer them to a' Committee. Upon the whole, he thought no hardship had been proied, and could see nothing that called for further investigation. Sir S. ROMILLY and Mr. BATHURST mutually explained. Mr. LoCKHART did not intend to vote for the inquiry bee z ause be thOught the • publications which had been alluded (o were not full of im piety, nor because he was of opinion the Attorney- General had conduCted . the p . roSecutiOns of them improperly, but because it appeared to him that it was incumbent on the House to inquire into the first case that came before them of an-indivi dual charged with a misdemeanor or libel being put in, irons, in order to prevent such a violation of the Constitution growing into an established practice, as too much caution could not be used in guarding individuals accused of such offences from being punished a -priori, .by their being compelled to wear any hailge of infamy before they had been proved guilty. On these grounds he thought the House bound to institute an inquiry into the Merits of the present case. Heshould therefore vole for the motion, and doing- this, be felt he should merely perform a duty which lie owed to the laws of the country. Mr. BeNNET replied ; and, in the course of his speech, expressed a hope that the country would bear in mind, i; the motion were lost, that one of the last acts of the present House of Commons had been to refuse an inquiry iA a case of this nature. The House then divided, when the numbers were— • Ayes Noes. Majority —s6 • NAnOB OP OU.D.E. Mr. MARSH, After detailing a number of cir cumstances relating to the debts of the Nabob of • - Dude, moved that the petitions of certain o f h i' creditors (Messrs. Chase, Chinnery, and COI Messrs. Abbott andMaitland) might be ref erre d to a Select Committee of the House. t . Mr. CANNING would not oppose the Rppoin ment of a Committee, but thought it impossibleal the' petitioners could substa n ti a t e their It was not likely that they should have lent their money in ignorance of the Act of 1797 ; t his- I , y r : not impossible, but he thought hi g hly improkolu'e he therefore did not commit himself to a anY proval of their claim by conse n ting to C °°l mittee. Mr. GRANT expressed his hope that the tiSg . India Company might be beard. M. MONEY thought the p e titioners were ig n h ° s - rant of the Act, and th a t th e ir c l a ims ought: to considered. After a few words from Sergeant ONsLoWy "' . - agreed with the President .of the Board of C°ll trot, Mr. W. SMITH expressed his assent to the priety of a Committee; and Mr. MAasn ha yili c replied, the question was pot, and the appoin" le r of the Committee agreed to. The Savings'-bank Bill was read a third time and Pas, sea „t'f The Irish Assesserl Taxes Bill, and the Duke of fs-e-)1„,, Annuity Bill, went through a Conimitee ; report to-no r ; t ei The Lottery Bill was read a second time) to he to Tmherow. or Irish Bank Restriction Bill was read a second report to-morrow.—Adjourned at half,Pascileven. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. HORRID ATTEMPT AT ASSASSINATIOI`L Ai I MARLBoRoUG- ••;TREET.—It iS p inf t ", i r to record moSt H diabo3ical attempt to untrue young woman.• The person charged is John Dennet, who ke f a green-grocer's shop in the Edgt,ware EioadY,ste the victim of premeditates joint v is Jane Itl i g e g r rO. a good looking woman, Oct ween 20 and 30 Y e :' ha I c ° otage. It appeared that the woman -- rft hahited the prison?r for the last nine S I . : 5 01 hut on May-day. last she was married to it i !'":10 a working gardener. She bad, according L r l er , statement, ieti hint when she went out to ny!'",bif fur the purpose of marryne-i Re gers . ' l t time, according to his o w n s t a te ment , h e harlW!t i i , i t ne t and revenge in his mind, b u t w"' : re a , loss how to effect his purposes. He at leng . T o .os solved on murder, and he took the opportn" l iii4 making the at esniii yesterthy morning, by C' e to' the woman up, after her husband bud work. • Two men, of the names of Goodehihl i" o p Court, stated the circumstance of the case 31 ,0 4 lows, from the prisoner's confession •at . the Coach and Horses, in the Edgevea re liel l soon after seven o'clock yesterday mornieg. %cis the prisoner carne in, and observed coolness, that he had killed a woman a t bourne Green that morning. They dis be ' : c o rP 0 him, from his easy manner of relating 'lOlO but-be gave them some gin, .and then stn tf- ilrf . he had been long unhappy in his mind ab" ut "" n eel Rogers, and that he had called her up at at ite o'clock that - morning, under pretence IP ':i o i l / wanted some roots when she . came dovi'll-ber, be• requested a few minutes conversation w it ' l o o He observed - to her that her cap was On ‘ V ,. — lll O and on her turning round to look in a gia ss ,„o 4 monster seized a hill-hook, and i n flicted a s e re l wound at the back of her h ea d ; he the n - it from his pocket a razor, with which lie e ut „,ol l throat in a most shocking manner, and in f— i f •li in; the dreadful attack, her fingers were t° Ile t ilt ) cut off. The prisoner was delivered ove r . hands of justice, and conveyed to this Offic e * st; The wounded woman was conveyed t° at George's Hospital, and an Officer was sen t rrlie certain her state. The Surgeon describe 10 I t/ 1 0 manner in which her throat and fingers were besides which there were tw en ty serious v t°' about the back of her head. • g t off t The_ unfortunate woman related the„ - ,iva' which corresponded with the prisoner's con fer when she was brought into the Ho , lPit ai. t° , certificate of Mr Cronin, the house-snrg e° o l' oa r the Magistrate was, " that the sufferer o ' l ' long survive...* ' o f" The husband stated, that the prisone r s r ise' from not having been reconciled at their 1113/.,,..9 t n was persent at the festival, and drank o'l- wi ck them. Rogers described it to fie a kit which the wound in the throat was infliet e- i The prisoner appeared with his wa istco g e j o f his hands imbrued in bl oo d. He coinfil9i,llooo the woman having plundered and ill-us ed and on heating that she was not dead, 1 0 e- ,; 5 e . ' ed his sorrow at it,' as he went on purr' ti pis gratify his - Irevenge, and had lire cornP l i e : s of l work he would not mind then ascending "17 fold.-'--He was remanded. Aesd i ' l A dreadful accident occurred on %%e---.0 evening near the end of Queen-Wee ( ' :liais e ' King's Road, Chelsea, by a single hors e 3c liegf in which were a Gentleman a nd tvv° C o rd S -; corning in contact with the carriage 0' 4, a ille* i CHURCHILL, by which the Gentleman on e were thrown out with great violence, an" : - 00 0 ` the Ladies so much hurt, that she (00 1 i d de nral two hours. after the accident. The . Ge% c iee had his leg broken, and the other Lady Twit"' a violent contusion. His Lordship, eSC 3 P e( out injury, but his carriage was much tit___2.ll BIRTHS. • t h Vi a l At his house in Dover.strect, on the 21st in. . --e • id Doctor Paris, of a son. .. L . of SP r Yesterday, the Lady of T. J. Pettigrew, Esq' gardewourgeon, of a son., • , • , MARRIED. re,. iti • Yesterday morning, at St. George's, Hanookr-s(10 oarr, Mytton, of Halston, in the county of Salop, Esq' r t° a ' s .1 0 11 1 EmmaE3 Jones, eldest daughter of the late Sir Tb ° ''• tlic P of Stanley Hall, in the county of Salop, and, siste r t° - i sent Sir Tyrwhitt Jones, Wirt. ,t',l, 5 O Yesterday, at St. George the Martyr, l ) of the Rifle Brigade, to Susannah Maria, eldest " James Lewis, Esq. of Powis-place. DIED. brothe r At Bath, on the Ist, inst. at the house of herr Law Ma Joe claL-",,titer law, Lieut.-Colonel Kaye, Mrs.Lawiie,widow of G. ' 0 Esq. of alcutta. acre On the 6th of October, at Redgerce, on hi s p ass en r t or rope, Cornet Alexander Leigh Strachan, 6th Wegiolt"ef Cavalry, eldest son of James St rac h a n, Esq• Ed ina 2 0 . 10, LONDON: Printed by J. B. CARSTAIRS, of N° • , 29 .' 1 40: 1° Ormond-'street, Queen-square; and published :110 Of jett SCRIPPS, of No. 7, South Nlolto ri - stree t, fit Office, No. 112, Atrand ; where Advertisements, Letters, &c. (post-paid) must be addressed. k zz "- I , or ok , sib Nv a nt " i k „ t s ~,T~'t 114 1.1 ; jeq: Ri 1 111 % 4 0: 1141ti•oil Qt, th ‘l l • • . 44 41 C ,., ° ' , 4, it! ft , Al t , Itv L 41.4. ol d It,P11;IP t 4l t ri ', a, ahk eq;, 8 e 146 ) t ‘t co4a ".tli n V I N di St, N.t?